Thank you for your interest in the website(s) of Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany (hereinafter referred to as "Merck", "us" or "we"). We take data protection and privacy issues very seriously and comply with the applicable national and European data protection regulations. Therefore, we would like to inform you with this declaration about data protection measures and which data we may store and how we use this data.
1.1 Cookies. We use cookies in order to enable and facilitate the use of our websites (e.g. to optimize the presentation or display of country-specific content). "Cookies" are small text files that enable our websites to store information on your computer and retrieve it later (e.g. when you visit our website again later). The use of cookies, for example, enables our websites to "remember" the language in which we are allowed to present our content to you. The following categories of cookies are concerned:
- cookies that optimize the presentation or display of country-specific content (e.g. the presentation of the website in your national language and corresponding country- specific product availability and pricing)
- cookies that help us to remember your settings
- web audience cookies
You can disable or block cookies in your browser software; however, this may result in restrictions regarding the usability of our websites. The legal basis for processing is Art. 6 para. 1 f GDPR, whereby we are authorized from the fact that, on the one hand, we have an interest in evaluating the website data for purposes of website optimization and, on the other hand, a concerned person can reasonably foresee at the time when the personal data is collected and in view of the circumstances under which it is carried out (in particular the above-mentioned measures) that it will possibly be processed for this purpose.
| Identifier | Type | Lifespan | Content | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Web Storage | 2 years | IP--Address, usage behavior | Used to distinguish users |
| _gid | Web Storage | 24 hours | IP--Address, usage behavior | Used to distinguish users |
| _gat | Web Storage | 1 minute | IP--Address, usage behavior | Used to throttle request rate |
| gac | Web Storage | 90 days | IP--Address, usage behavior | Contains campaign related information for the user |
| ga-optout | Web Storage | 1 year | IP--Address, usage behavior | Used to disable Google Analytics |
1.2 Google Analytics. Our websites use Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google Inc. ("Google") to store "analytical cookies" on your device. This means that information about users and the use of our websites is transmitted to Google and processed on our behalf for the purpose of compiling reports on website activity, measuring website visits and visitors and providing similar services for us. This includes the transmission of your IP address, but it will not be merged with other Google data. In addition, your IP address is shortened (usually within the European Union) and saved by Google only in an abridged form. For data storage in the United States, Google's self-certification according to the Privacy Shield provides an appropriate level of data protection.
You can object to the processing of your data for these purposes by installing a browser plugin (http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de). Further information concerning the terms and conditions of use and data privacy can be found at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/gb.html.
The legal basis for processing is Art. 6 para. 1 f GDPR, whereby we are authorized from the fact that, on the one hand, we have an interest in evaluating the website data for purposes of website optimization and, on the other hand, a concerned person can reasonably foresee at the time when the personal data is collected and in view of the circumstances under which it is carried out (in particular the above-mentioned measures) that it will possibly be processed for this purpose.
1.3 Social Plugins. We use social media plugins from various social networks (e.g. ResearchGate). With the help of these plugins you can share content or recommend products. The plugins are deactivated by default and therefore do not send data to other websites. By clicking on the button "Share" and the confirmation by a second click on “OK” you can activate plugins (so-called 2-click solution).
If these plugins are activated, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the respective social media network as soon as you access the operator's website. The content of the respective plugin is transmitted directly from the social media network to your browser and embedded into the website.
By embedding the plugins, the social media network receives the information that you have visited the respective page of the operator. If you are logged in to the social media network, it can allocate the visit to your account. When you interact with the plugins, the corresponding information is transferred directly from your browser to the social media network and stored there.
For the purpose and scope of data collection and the further processing and use of the data by social media networks, as well as your rights and options for the protection of your privacy, please refer to the data protection notices of the respective networks.
If you do not want social media networks to collect information about you through the operator's website, you must log out or disable the social media plugins before you visit our website.
Even if you are not logged in to social media networks, websites with active social media plugins can still send data to these networks. With an active plugin, a cookie with an identifier is placed each time the website is accessed. Since your browser sends this cookie every time you connect to a network server without being asked, the network could basically use it to create a profile of the websites visited by the user associated with the ID. And it would then also be possible to assign this identifier to a person again later - for example when logging on later to the social network.
Further information can be found in the data privacy statements of the social media platforms following the links below. In case you disagree with the data collection by these platforms you can deactivate the plugins in your browser. To avoid the connection with your existing user profile on these platforms you have to logout from the following platforms prior to your visit of our websites:
- Facebook (provided by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA): You can view Facebook’s privacy policy here: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info#public-info
- Twitter (provided by Twitter Inc., 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA): You can view Twitter’s privacy policy here: https://twitter.com/privacy
- LinkedIn (provided by LinkedIn Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA): You can view LinkdIn´s privacy policy here: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
- Instagram (provided by Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA): You can view Instagram’s privacy policy here: https://help.instagram.com/155833707900388
- ResearchGate (provided by ResearchGate GmbH, Chausseestr. 20, 10115 Berlin, Germany): You can view ResearchGate’s privacy policy here: https://www.researchgate.net/privacy-policy
1.4 Links to other websites. Our websites contain links to third party websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that they have their own privacy policies which should be reviewed. We have no liability or responsibility for the content or practices of these websites.
2.1 Data transfer to the Merck group companies As part of a global group of companies, we involve other Merck companies that support us in hosting and administration. These group companies process the data solely for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
2.2 Data transfer to third parties. We pass on your personal data as set forth below:
- Service Providers: We share your personal data with third party service providers who use this data to perform services for us, such as payment processors, hosting providers, marketing technology providers, auditors, advisors, consultants, customer service and support providers.
- Legally required: We may disclose your personal data if we are required to do so by law or where it is necessary to respond to claims asserted against us or comply with legal processes.
- Business transfers: We may disclose or transfer personal data as part of any merger, sale, and transfer of our assets, acquisition or restructuring of all or part of our business, bankruptcy, or similar event.
We are transferring your personal data outside the EU/EEA. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to guarantee that your personal data are adequately protected according to the requirements of the data protection laws of the European Union by means of Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the EU Commission.
We store data as long as it is legally necessary or necessary for the provision of the service requested by you, or as long as it has been agreed upon in a declaration of consent.
As a data subject you have the following rights:
- You can request access to your personal data, including the provision of a copy of the personal data undergoing processing
- You can ask us to update or correct any inadequate, incomplete or inaccurate data
- You can request the erasure of your personal data, if the legal requirements are satisfied. This is the case, in particular, if:
- your personal data is no longer needed for the purposes of which it was collected;
- the sole legal basis for processing such data was your consent, and you have withdrawn such consent;
- you have objected to processing on the legal grounds relating to your particular situation, and we cannot prove that there are overriding legitimate grounds for processing;
- your personal data were processed unlawfully; or
- your personal data must be erased in order to comply with legal requirements
- You can restrict the processing of personal data under certain conditions. The requirements are:
- the accuracy of your personal data is contested by you and we must verify the accuracy of the personal data;
- the processing is unlawful, but you oppose the erasure of the personal data and request the restriction of their use instead;
- We no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of processing, but you require the data to establish, exercise or defend your legal claims;
- you have objected to processing pending the verification of whether the legitimate grounds of Merck override your legitimate grounds.
- You have the right to data portability, e.g. you can ask us to provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format for your use or transfer to another controller
- You can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
- Where processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal
- Right to object - to the extent that we are relying on our legitimate interests to use your personal data, you have the right to object to such use, and we must stop such processing unless we can either demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the use that override your interests, rights and freedoms or where we need to process the data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. In addition, you can object to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes, which includes profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing without providing any reason. We will then cease the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
If you want to exercise any of these rights or have any questions or concerns about how we treat your personal data, please contact: privacy@group.com
If you have any requests or questions, please feel free to contact our Group Data Protection Officer:
Group Data Protection Officer
Merck KGaA
Frankfurter Straße 250
64293 Darmstadt, Germany
E-Mail: privacy@group.com